Clearly, not many things have been going well for the Pistons, who just broke the single-season NBA record on Tuesday with their 27th consecutive loss. If they lose again on Thursday in Boston, they’ll tie the all-time losing streak across multiple seasons, set by the Sixers in 2014/15 and ’15/16.
Despite their struggles, former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham has been a bright spot for the Pistons of late, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press . After an up-and-down first 19 games, Cunningham is averaging 24.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.3 steals on .500/.309/.847 shooting in 11 games this month, including two 40-point outbursts over his past four contests. He has also significantly cut down on his turnovers, going from a league-high 4.9 per game over his first 19 games to 2.9 per night this month.
As Sankofa writes, Cunningham did everything in his power to keep Detroit in the game on Tuesday, shooting 13-of-16 from the field (81.3%) and scoring 37 points in the second half, including the team’s final 12. The rest of the Pistons were a combined 7-of-26 (26.9%) in the second half, Sankofa notes.
“Everyday, I try to lead the squad,” Cunningham said. “I haven’t been successful with that. Two-and-28. I just felt like it’s only right that I come up and can speak for it, be the face for it. That locker room and everybody in there cares a lot. Everybody’s trying to do everything they can to win games and be successful. I put a lot of that weight on myself, for sure.”
Here’s more from Detroit:
- On FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show (Twitter video link ), Shams Charania of The Athletic said the Pistons are likely to target a power forward in free agency in 2024, with Pascal Siakam , OG Anunoby , Tobias Harris and Miles Bridges among the names worth monitoring.
- The Pistons have won three championships and have made the NBA Finals five times. But over the past 15 years, they’ve been “meh-to-bad,” with the current group on pace to be the worst team ever, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic , who takes an in-depth look at the sequence of events that has led Detroit to its historic ineptitude.
- While there are no “quick fixes” for a team that’s 2-28, Keith Smith of Spotrac describes how he would go about changing the direction of the franchise, including trading away veterans for draft assets.